Volume 9 Issue 35

Shell to Build Lubes Plant in Russia

Royal Dutch Shell plc on Monday said it plans to build a lubricant blending plant in northwestern Russia. It would be the first Russian blending plant operated by an international oil company. Separately, the company said last week that it will close a Vicksburg, Miss., plant by the start of December. The Russian plant will be built in Torzhok, northwest of Moscow, and will have capacity to produce 180,000 metric tons per year. It will cost $100 million and is scheduled to open by the end of 20...

Can GF-5 Clear Final Hurdles?

Some key components of the ILSAC GF-5 passenger car engine oil upgrade have begun falling into place, and commercialization now appears on track to begin by October 2010, sources say. That will make the oils available to service gasoline-fueled vehicles beginning with the 2011 model year. The ILSAC/Oil Committee creating the new engine oil hopes to have a draft of the full specification and its test limits ready for balloting by its members sometime this month or October. ILSAC/Oil members incl...

GM Offers Details on its 'dexos' Plans

General Motors’ new global engine oil specification is now trademarked as dexos — yes, it’s spelled with all lower-case letters — and is poised to make the leap from the drawing board into the market. Dexos II, designed for use in passenger car diesel engines, is launching now in Europe, and the company says its gasoline-fueled counterpart should be available globally for its 2011 model year vehicles. Eric R. Johnson of General Motors Powertrain, North America, provided s...

Chemtool to Acquire Site for HQ

Lubricant and grease manufacturer Chemtool plans to acquire Woodward Governors 102,266-square-foot Rockton, Ill., facility for use as a corporate headquarters. Terms of the transaction, expected to close next week, were not disclosed. The Rockton and Winnebago County area is a great place for our expanding manufacturing business, said Chemtool Chairman James Athans. This will be our world headquarters as well as our R&D center, and close to our manufacturing plant in Rockton. The company ...

Proposed Bans in Nigeria Stir Debate

Stakeholders in the Nigerian lubricants industry have expressed their opposition to a proposal that effective Jan. 1 would ban imported lubricants as well as sales of lubricants dispensed from bulk tanks at gasoline stations across the country. Their official stand on the matter is expected to be made known to the Nigerian government within the next two weeks. As at the time of filing this report, high-level consultations were ongoing between the Tribology Society of Nigeria (TSN) and Standard ...

Oxea, BASF Raise More Prices

BASF and Oxea, whose chemical price hikes were reported here last week, have announced additional price increases for chemicals used in lube production. Oberhausen, Germany-based Oxea on Friday said that effective Sept. 1, or as contracts allow, it would increase prices on a variety of solvents – including butanol, butyl acetate, propanol and propyl acetate – by 30 per metric ton to 80/mt in Europe, and by $100 to $115/mt in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The company noted the in...